The Broken Horse
by SnickeringDoodle
Summary: Sarah was being abused. Jareth saved her, but can he heal her?
1. Broken

**The Broken Horse**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Labyrinth characters; they are the property of Jim Henson.

**Author's Note: **This is my first fanfic, so please be nice and tell me what you think! On with the story!

"Talking"

"_Sarah thinking"_

"Jareth thinking"

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Jareth was pacing his library, crystal in hand. He couldn't watch this anymore, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the horrid sight unfolding before him.

"Sarah," The name nothing more than a whisper, yet held so much emotion. He could feel himself reaching out to her, begging her to call him. Begging her to let him help. Yes, he did love the mortal girl. Of course after their last encounter he had tried to forget her. It hadn't worked. He could never forget. Now he was helpless, watching his Sarah fight for her life.

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Sarah scrambled backwards trying to get away from the man who claimed to have loved her. She had moved in with him almost two months ago. Her home life hadn't been very good before then, anyway. Her parents had ignored her before she left for college. Then she had met Tom. They had dated for a few weeks and he told her he loved her. She knew she didn't love him back, but it was so nice having someone pay attention to her. The only person before that had been the most handsome man she had ever seen. He was the man she loved; she would love him until she died. She realized that would probably be very soon. That thought almost made her laugh.

"Sarah," came that singsong voice she had come to fear and despise, "Come here Sarah."

She shook her head, hard. It wouldn't do any good, it never did. Tonight was different, usually Tom would only hit her, but tonight he had a look in his eyes that Sarah had never seen. He looked insane.

"Sarah, I'm so disappointed in you," he was taunting her; "I haven't gotten what I want from you, Sarah."

The way he said her name made her want to scream. She had done that once and Tom had bruised her jaw so bad she could barely open her mouth, she never did that again.

Sarah was scared. Those other times she had been scared, but this was different. This was a "scared for you life" kind of scared. Some part of her mind was telling her to call out to Jareth. God it had been so long since she allowed herself to think his name. After all she had thrown his feelings back at him like they hadn't mattered. They did though, they mattered so much.

"Sarah, do you know what I'm going to do," Tom asked with an evil grin spreading across his face.

Had she ever thought that face was attractive, she couldn't remember.

"Sarah, I'm going have some fun with you," with that he reached behind his back and pulled out his pocket knife. He had threatened her with it before, but she had never thought he would do anything.

He was in front of her now and slowly, ever so slowly, opened his knife. Sarah had tears running down her face now. She was going to die. The voice telling her to wish herself away was growing louder, more insistent. Tom leaned down and kissed her. Then he stabbed her. Right in the stomach. She cried out as he twisted the knife in deeper. Looking up at him, she could see him smiling as he pulled out the knife. She collapsed on the floor.

"Sarah, don't ever deny me what I want," with that said he kicked her in her wound. She gasped. A wave of nausea swept over her.

"Jareth please," Sarah could feel the pain beginning to dull. She was losing consciousness. The last thing she saw was a snowy white owl at the window.

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Jareth broke out in a cold sweat as he watched Sarah being stabbed. There was nothing he could do if she didn't call. He was going to watch her die. Tears began streaming down his face as he collapsed on the floor. He couldn't stop watching, he had to see. He heard her cry out and he couldn't stop the shout that came for his own lips. Then he heard it. He had heard her call out to him. He dropped the crystal in his hasted to get to the window.

"I'm coming Sarah. Please just wait for me."

**Author's Note: **Okay so there is the first chapter. I know it is short, but I'll make for that in the next chapter. Please review! Any advice would be much appreciated! Thank you for reading!


	2. The End of the Beginning

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Labyrinth characters; they are the property of Jim Henson.

**Author's Note: **-Smiles sheepishly and bows deeply- Oops. I'm so sorry I haven't updated yet. I've been suffering from severe writer's block. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it. I will start work on the next chapter as soon as I post this. Don't look at me that way, I really will. Thank you SO much for the reviews. I will try to start replying to them, too. Okay, onward and upward, as they say. Hey, who is "they" anyway?

"Talking"

'_Sarah thinking'_

'Jareth thinking'

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Jareth moved quietly as he entered the apartment, to not alert Tom to his presence. The pathetic man was still standing over Sarah, who was unconscious and bleeding quite heavily. Jareth had to get to her soon. However, he needed to incapacitate Tom first. He could be dealt with later.

"Hello, having fun," At the sound of Jareth's voice, Tom spun around, holding his knife close to his leg, as if to hide it.

"Who are you," demanded Tom.

"Oh, I'm just someone who didn't enjoy your little show," Jareth spoke slowly, focusing on the crystal he had just summoned.

"How did -- You'll get the hell out, if you know what's good for you," Tom spoke again, holding out his knife to further his point.

"I know what's good for me, but even worse for you," with that Jareth threw his crystal at a panicking Tom.

As soon as it hit, he was paralyzed. The only thing he could move were his eyes, which Jareth had made sure of, to make his _stay_ a little more _un_pleasant. Now he could help Sarah.

Jareth sat down by Sarah and gently lifted her shirt to look at her wound. The bleeding had slowed, that was good. He could probably stop it until they got to his healer. He summoned a crystal, with the turn of his hand it changed to a small draw-string bag. After quickly untying it, he pulled out a pinch of powder and lightly sprinkled it over Sarah's wound. It wouldn't heal her, only time could do that, but it would temporarily stop the bleeding.

Turning his attention back to Tom, Jareth slowly made his way in front of him. He was lanky and not handsome by any means, but perhaps that was because Jareth could see him for what he was.

"Now, what to do with you," Tom could only gurgle in response.

Jareth clasped his hands behind his back and leaned forward slightly. He maliciously smiled, showing off his sharper-than-average canines, Tom made a whimpering sound. Had he been able to move, he would have run as fast and as far away from the ever darkening face of the fae before him. The open window behind Jareth showed the rising storm clouds, lightening streaking from them, the rain just beginning to litter the floor of the apartment. Each soft 'plink' growing louder in the stretching silence, causing Tom to wince.

Jareth reached forward and took the knife from Tom's immobile fingers. Tom whimpered again.

"Doing that quite bit aren't we," Jareth's grin only widened, "It isn't much fun to be at someone's complete mercy, now is it?"

Twirling the knife between his fingers, Tom's eyes following the movements closely, Jareth turned and walked to look out the window. Rapidly spinning around, his arm outstretched, the knife was gone. His movements so quick, it merely looked as if he was suddenly facing the opposite direction. A gurgle escaped Tom's throat as he realized were the knife had disappeared to; it was currently puncturing his stomach.

Quickly, Jareth cast a spell to soundproof the room, even going so far as to cover Sarah with it; it simply wouldn't do for her to be awake for this, he could inform her of this event later. Summoning a few crystals, he released Tom from his earlier spell. Immediately, Tom began screaming from the pain, Jareth merely shook his head at him and clucked his tongue. Tom scrambled for the door, losing his footing more than once. Jareth chuckled darkly as he threw the first of the crystals. Seeing it explode in front of him, Tom shrieked and ran in the other direction. Every time Tom got close to any of the exits a laughing Jareth would throw a crystal, again trapping him.

Finally collapsing from blood loss and shock, Tom slid to the floor. Jareth towered over him; waving his hand over Tom's head he cast his final spell. The now unconscious man would relive every moment of pain he had ever inflicted. Emotional, mental, or physical, he would feel it. Each experience building on another until his mind or body, which ever gave out first, could no longer take it. Taking one last look at the pathetic man writhing on the floor, Jareth stood.

He made his way over to Sarah, mindful of the blood covering the floor. Kneeling beside her, he gently brushed his hand over her pale cheek. Lifting her carefully, so as not to start her bleeding again, he moved to the window. Placing one booted foot on the ledge, Jareth looked at his love. He leaned down and placed a feather light kiss on her brow, making a silent promise 'Never again will I leave your side, even if you do not want me, I will protect you'. Pushing off into the night, Jareth failed to notice the small smile that graced Sarah's lips.

**Author's Note:** So… how was it?? I was going to make this chapter longer, but it seemed like if I went any further it would ruin it…. The next chapter is in progress! Reviews are appreciated and most certainly wanted! Thank you for reading!


	3. Awake

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Labyrinth characters; they are the property of Jim Henson.  
**Author's Note: **Um... wow. It's been forever (or close to it) since I've updated this story. My deepest apologies. I will try very very hard to update more regularly. I hope, for those of you who still want to read it, that this chapter doesn't disappoint. Thank you for reading.

Jareth quietly crept into Sarah's room. Standing at her bedside he couldn't help but wonder when she would awake. It had already been three days. He sighed and gently brushed a piece of her hair away from her face.

"Oh, Sarah. You never make things easy, do you?," he whispered.

A small smile touched his lips, but quickly faded. He moved to the open window across from Sarah's bed. He had spent every bit of his free time sitting there. Jareth sighed once again and sat with his back pressed against the side of the window. He propped his leg in front of him as he looked out over his Labyrinth. He summoned a crystal and lazily rolled it in his hand.

He couldn't understand why it was taking her so long to wake up. His healer had said Sarah should be awake the next day. When it became clear that she would not be waking up that day, he had told him that perhaps she did not wish to wake. That, you can imagine, did not go well. Jareth had raged through the entire night. He had destroyed at least four rooms of his castle and had terrified all of his goblins. He had had to spend the next day repairing everything he had broken. That alone guaranteed his foul mood that day.

Jareth let his mind wander to Sarah's first visit to the Underground. His most cherished memory was the masked ball he had created for her. He often replayed that dance. Of course, he always did leave out the last bit. He never did feel quite the same about those chairs. In fact, he had them burned. He let himself get lost in the memory, absentmindedly singing out loud.

Sarah slowly returned from the land of dreams. She lay there, just listening and trying to determine her surroundings by touch. Her fingers tightened in... sheets? Shouldn't she be on the floor? A deep breath filled her senses with a scent that most definitely was _not_ her apartment. She laid there for a moment, her mind racing. _'Oh, god.'_ Where was she? And what was that sound? Someone talking? No. That was singing. She forced herself to listen. _'Mornings of gold? Who sang about mornings of gold? Weird.' _She listened a little longer. Her body went rigid. She knew that song and the voice that was singing it. _'No. Nonononono. It can't be.'_ She took a calming breath. Maybe this was all a dream. It had to be.

Sarah cracked her eyes open, squinting against the harsh light of the room. She looked down at herself. '_Okay. I'm in a bed. A really _nice _bed.' _She looked across the room. '_Door. Wall. Ow.' _ She slammed her eyes shut. '_Window.' _Her breath caught in her throat. Sitting in the window was someone Sarah never thought she'd see again. Jareth. She lay there frozen for a moment. Her mind was shouting at her body to move. Finally her body caught up with her. With a small shriek she jerked up and scrambled backwards. Her head swam with the movement and her abdomen throbbed with pain. Sarah felt herself start to fall backwards.

Jareth snapped his head in direction of the sound. He felt relief flood him. She was awake. His relief was short lived, however, as he saw her start to go over the edge of the bed. In an instant he was on the bed and caught her wrist, pulling her back up.

"You are awake," he stated.

Sarah only nodded, staring down at his gloved hand holding her wrist. She slowly started to slide her hand out of his grasp, but winced in pain at the slight movement.

"Sarah? Are you in pain?," Jareth tried to look at her face.

He attempted to touch her cheek, only to have her flinch and shrink away from him. She glanced up at his face and saw hurt flash in his eyes. He dropped his gaze and frowned. She followed his eyes down.,

"Shit," she said. There was a rapidly growing blood spot forming on her nightgown.

"Do not get up," Jareth told her and then left the room.

Several hours and serious warnings from the healer later, Sarah lay in bed staring up at the stone ceiling and wondering why she was still alive. Had Jareth really saved her? She would've thought he would be pleased to hear of her demise... if he remembered her at all. She allowed herself to think over what had happened four nights ago. Tears leaked from the corners of her closed eyes. '_Why? Why did he come for me?' _ She didn't know, but she promised herself she would find out.

Sarah lifted her head a little and wiped her eyes with the sheet when she heard a light knock on her door. The door creaked open and a goblin with a tray balanced on it's head came stumbling through. '_Is that... soup? This can't be good.'_ From what she remembered about goblins they weren't the most graceful of creatures. The little creature jumped and slid the tray on to her bed. Sarah winced expecting the hot liquid to slosh out and burn her. When she finally opened her eyes the little goblin was already running out the door.

She stared down warily at the bowl and took a cautious sniff. '_It seems alright.'_ She dipped her spoon in the soup, stuck out her tongue and barely touched it to the spoon. '_Well, nothing horrible happened.'_ And so she ate it. All. As soon as she sat the bowl back on to the tray, the goblin from before came and snatched the tray off the bed and ran back out the door. '_Social little things_.' With that thought she laid down again and stared out the window.

Jareth paced outside of Sarah's door. He growled at himself. 'How long am I going to stand out here?' With that he forced himself to open the door. Sarah jumped at the sound of her door opening and her heart started to pound at the sight of who exactly had opened it. Jareth simply stood there and stared at her. She shifted uncomfortably and that seemed to snap him of his thoughts.

"How are you this evening," Jareth asked.

"I-I'm, um, alright," Sarah's voice was quiet.

"The healer has told me that you are to stay in bed as much as possible and to be extremely careful with you're movements," Jareth spoke as he walked around Sarah's room, looking at everything but her.

"I'm sorry," Sarah blurted suddenly.

Jareth turned and looked at her like she was crazy. "What ever for?"

"I must be causing you a lot of trouble," she whispered.

"You are not. Even if that were the case, it would not matter," Jareth's tone made no room for any argument.

Sarah simply nodded, even though she was not convinced. She sat up slowly and glanced at him. '_He hasn't changed. Not really.' _ He looked just the same as he had all those years ago. Though, when she looked close enough, maybe he _did_ look a little less cruel.

"I see you are tired. I shall leave you then," Jareth's voice broke her from her thoughts.

Just as he reached the door, Sarah spoke, "Why did... why did you come for me?"

Jareth turned toward her once again, with a small and slightly wistful smile, He spoke quietly, "Because you asked."

He turned away from her and closed the door behind him. The deafening sound of the door closing made tears burst from her eyes. She cried for everything in that moment. Every bit of hurt and sadness. That one tiny sentence made her feel as if her heart were breaking.

Sarah cried herself to sleep that night.

**Author's Note: **Thank you reading! I hope you will review and tell me what you think. Hope you have a lovely day!


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